It’s not making money by making lei. It’s making lei from money you already made. Got it?I’m pretty sure that there are some people who prefer a handmade gift over anything you could possibly buy at a store. Other people like to be given money. Maybe, they’d like something from a store, but they just want to choose it for themselves (or maybe they’re just misers). Everyone in Hawai‘i enjoys being given a lei on any occasion, too. So, in her new book, Money Lei Making in Hawai‘i, Laurie Shimizu Ide has you covered with the ultimate gift. It’s money; it’s handmade; and it’s a lei.
That leaves just two questions before you go to the bookstore to get your own copy of Money Lei. First, are these money-lei projects actually things you can do? They are. My no-longer-nimble fingers made it through some of them that looked pretty challenging. Second, is it really OK to give lei made of money? Yes, absolutely, but probably not on all occasions. For birthdays, as the author suggests, a lei in which the number of coins, bills or dollars is equal to the age of the birthday keiki is fun. She also recommends lei for anniversaries and retirements, using the number of years of marriage or service to the company.
I think I’d only do money lei for anniversaries and retirements if I could get others to do the same. Feels somehow not really right to give a gift of, say, five bucks to a struggling young couple and, maybe, $40 to grandparents. On the other hand, if every guest at a fifth anniversary gave a $5 money-lei, especially if they gave them to both spouses, that could make a difference, or at least offset the cost of having an anniversary party. Admittedly, I have never had what could be called a healthy relationship with money, though. So, don’t listen to me about that.
Ide’s books are another matter. I have enjoyed her books on making shell lei, flower lei, seed lei; on flower identification and flower arranging, so why wouldn’t I like her money-lei book? No reason. I do like it. But, I’m thinking that I’ll turn her thinking about the lei giving upside down. In a few years, I’ll be having a birthday bash on the Mainland, and the touch of Maui I intend to bring with me will be money-lei, made (more or less) according to Ide “recipes,” but $$ matching my age, given to my guests. That sounds like fun to me.
Chances are that I will never precisely follow any of the instructions in this book to make a lei. I’m not big on scrapbooking supplies, stickers or plastic flower parts. Maybe you are. Doesn’t matter in the least. The book can be a fave for both of us, anyway. The thing is that Ide gives us excellent, carefully photographed, step-by-step instructions for the origami (Japanese paper-folding art) that makes folding-money into the flowers, fans, butterflies, balls, owls and other ornaments from which to make the lei.
If you’ve ever tried to fathom a “serious” origami book and ended up with swollen fingers and a blank stare, you’ll recognize immediately that Ide wants you to succeed. She wants to help, and she does. I can do this, and if I can, you can. Seriously.
Money Lei Making in Hawai‘i is a fun guide to an activity that you really will do. I mean, I have enjoyed books about climbing Mount Everest and tatting the lace for a wedding gown. Absolutely not gonna happen, though. These money-lei will.
Enjoy!